


The Beach House

by PalmettoFoxDen



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: But it's a very poorly kept secret, M/M, Secret Relationship, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 17:50:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13641384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalmettoFoxDen/pseuds/PalmettoFoxDen
Summary: Mark and Gordo decide to go on a secret vacation, but the pack has a hard time believing the reasons they coincidentally have to leave town a day apart. (For the Wolfsong Valentine's Day Exchange)





	The Beach House

Mark waited until Gordo was actually gone before he told anyone but Ox that he had to leave the next day for what he claimed was completely unrelated to Gordo’s ‘important garage related business trip’. He’d told Ox beforehand because Ox was one of his alphas and he knew Ox was worried that Gordo’s obviously fake reason for leaving town was because he planned to do something dangerous, probably involving his father who was still on the loose. Mark kept the fact that he was leaving a secret from everyone else until Gordo was gone though because he did not need Carter and Joe making comments about their romantic getaway that wouldn’t go over well with Gordo (like referring to it as a romantic getaway) right in front of him.

That turned out to be a good idea, since the first thing out of Carter’s mouth after Mark said he had to go out of town for something important was, “Something important like boning Gordo?”

Mark was never the greatest liar and it was hard to fool someone that could hear your heartbeat, but Gordo made him leave later to try to keep this a secret, so Mark attempted to keep the secret and responded, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do.”

Mark didn’t admit Carter was right, but he didn't deny it again either because he knew that would get him nowhere.

The pack was going to find out about him and Gordo being back together eventually (they did have eyes, after all, and they would be able to feel how green they got around each other), but Gordo wanted to put off dealing with the pack’s comments for as long as possible so Mark wasn’t going to tell the pack anything Gordo did not want them to know. Going out of town to be green around each other in secret might be taking the whole 'keeping it secret even though their relationship was inevitably going to come out anyway' thing a little too far, but Mark didn’t mind if it meant that he got to spend extra time alone with Gordo.

* * *

The afternoon after Gordo left town, Mark met him at a beach house he had rented for them. The house was beautiful when pulled up, but Mark barely had time to notice before Gordo walked out the sliding glass doors and grinned at the sight of him. Gordo was wearing a worn pair of jeans, an old t-shirt, and his feet were bare. Mark couldn't think of anything more beautiful.

Everything went green as Mark stepped out of the car. He wasn't sure where Gordo's green ended and his own began and he had forgotten how much he had missed this feeling.

He walked up onto the deck, where Gordo was waiting, and greeted him with a kiss. He loved that he was allowed to do this again. He could still hardly believe that Gordo forgave him and that Gordo wanted to kiss him again.

When he came up for air, Mark let his forehead rest against Gordo's and didn't open his eyes yet.

"I missed you."

Gordo let out a chuckle under his breath. "It's been one day, Mark. I think you'll survive."

Mark nuzzled his nose against Gordo's cheek. "I don't want to lose another day with you."

"If you're trying to convince me you're not going to abandon me again, I already know that we do what we have to do," Gordo said. "You can't promise anything and neither can I."

Mark didn't want to think about being apart from Gordo again. He didn't want to think about all the time that they had spent apart.

Gordo must have sensed that because he added, "I don't want to be away from you again either. I won't leave if I don't have to."

Mark pressed his lips against Gordo's again and tried to convey just how much he never wanted to leave Gordo again either with his kiss.

* * *

 After Mark dropped his bag inside, they went down to the beach and sat in the sand, side by side.

"I'm pretty sure the guys don't believe I'm away on a business trip," Gordo grumbled as he stared at the waves.

"How could they not?" Mark bumped Gordo's knee with his and asked, "What business are you doing on this supposed business trip anyway?"

"Shut up," Gordo told him, but his tone wasn't harsh enough for him to have really meant it. Mark knew Gordo too well to be fooled when he put on his grumpy face and he could tell he wasn't really mad at him, just annoyed that his story had blatant holes in it.  "They were acting weird and giving each other these looks. They thought they were doing it when I wasn't looking, but they're not great at being subtle."

"But you still came," Mark pointed out.

"You already rented the place," Gordo responded. "And they were just making me want a vacation from them more."

"If this is your vacation from them, then why are you still worrying about whether they're suspicious or not?"

Mark set his chin on Gordo's shoulder as he waited for his response. After a moment, he felt Gordo's muscles relax.

"Distract me then. What are we going to do on this vacation?" Gordo asked.

"That's right," Mark said. "You don't know how to take a vacation."

"I know how," Gordo insisted.

"The only vacation days you've ever taken were when you were away with Joe," Mark accused.

"That's not-" Gordo started, but Mark cut him off before he could finish denying it.

"I've talked to Ox. I know you don't take sick days or vacation days."

"I'm taking vacation days now, aren't I?" Gordo questioned.

He had him there, so Mark grinned and suggested, "We could go swimming later."

Gordo considered for a moment and then smirked. "Maybe you can catch us a fish to eat. _Can_ you catch a fish in your mouth?"

Mark wanted to roll his eyes, but now he wondered the same thing. Maybe he would try to catch a fish later and they could have it for dinner.

Gordo must have noticed the look on his face though because he kicked sand at Mark's feet and said, "Don't. I already stocked up the fridge. We have food. I don't want your mouth fish."

"Don't call it that."

* * *

Late that night, after Gordo made them dinner and Mark properly thanked him, Mark was lying on his stomach with his arm over Gordo's bare chest. Gordo's face was lit by the moonlight streaming in from the ceiling to floor windows. The room was quiet and it was late enough that they could be sleeping, but they weren't. They were just lying there in a comfortable silence and had been for a long time.

"You know, I hated you," Gordo admitted out of nowhere.

Mark shifted closer and pressed a kiss to Gordo's shoulder, then nuzzled against his neck.

"I know," Mark agreed. "For leaving you."

"No. Not just that," Gordo said. "I hated you for Ox."

Mark lifted his head to look down at Gordo's expression as he ran his thumb over Gordo's cheek. "For Ox?"

Gordo said, "For dragging him into your werewolf bullshit."

Mark frowned. There was an underlying violet coming off of Gordo now.

"That wasn't just me," Mark said. "Joe-"

"I know. I know," Gordo said and he let out a sigh. "But he said you knew him first and, even if you didn't, you had to know who he was when he showed up smelling like me and the garage. You had to know when his name was Ox."

Gordo was right. Mark had known from the first day in the diner that Ox was someone important to Gordo and when Ox had introduced himself, Mark had known that he was the kid that Gordo used to talk about coming around the garage. The one that could really use a friend and whose father didn't deserve to have his son admire him so much.

"I hated you for dragging him into your mess," Gordo repeated. "And I hated you for not telling me that you were back in town and not telling me about your family's involvement with Ox. I shouldn't have found out from him."

"I befriended Ox because he could use a friend," Mark told him. "You're right. I knew he was the Ox you wanted to protect. I wanted to protect him too. I knew he was worth it if he was important to you and when we moved back, Joe met him and that was it. I didn't tell you about knowing Ox or that we were back because you made it pretty clear you weren't going to sit around and wait years for me to come back. I didn't think you wanted to know that we were back. I didn't want to mess up your life."

Gordo considered for a moment and then sighed. The violet was starting to fade a little.

"You're right. I didn't want to know you were back," Gordo admitted. "It was harder knowing you were there and I was still mad at you."

"You're not mad at me anymore?" Mark asked.

"Does this feel like I'm mad at you?" Gordo asked as he ran his fingers through Mark's hair.

Mark leaned into the touch. It didn't feel like Gordo was mad at him for that anymore. They would have never made it through half this conversation when Gordo had hated him. Lying in bed like this together did not feel like Gordo was still holding a grudge. Besides, if he really did still hate him for it, he wouldn't have taken Mark's wolf back.

Mark ducked down to kiss him and Gordo's fingers trailed down his spine as he arched up to kiss back.

"Ox is lucky that he had you," Mark murmured when he came up for air. He rested his cheek on Gordo's chest and told him, "And I'm glad you had him. He's a good tether for you. I'm glad you weren't on your own, without a tether, the whole time."

Gordo didn't say anything, he just ran his fingers through Mark's hair slowly. Mark wondered whether he should drop the subject of tethers or not. He wasn't sure how sore of a subject it was for Gordo, but Mark felt a hint of blue coming from him.

"It's alright that he's your tether still," Mark told him. "Ox is a pretty great tether to have. And I'm not saying this to make you feel bad, but I want you to know that you were always mine. Thinking about you kept me human, even when I wasn't your tether anymore."

For a long moment, Gordo was silent, but then he admitted, "I know."

Mark shifted to rest his chin on Gordo's chest so he could look up at him.

"I could still feel the connection," Gordo told him. "I didn't realize what it was at first because it was smaller than what we had before. It took me a while to realize the reason I still felt connected to you was more than just because you were important to me before you left."

Mark was surprised that Gordo had already known and that he never complained about it after he figured it out. He didn't know what to say, but he didn't have to worry about that for too long because Gordo hooked his finger under Mark's chin and nudged him closer so that he could kiss him again.

* * *

They didn't get around to swimming until the second day, but they were exhausted after they did.

Mark sat down on the sand next to Gordo, who was lying on a towel to dry off after he had cheated to win what had started off as Mark innocently splashing him and escalated until it had ended with Gordo summoning a wave just to get Mark wet as revenge.

Mark pushed Gordo's wet hair out of his face as an excuse to touch him and Gordo pretended to be annoyed, but his scowl wasn't very convincing everything felt so overwhelmingly green.

"Using magic to make a wave just to soak me is cheating," Mark accused.

"You shouldn't have started a fight you couldn't finish," Gordo responded unsympathetically. "I didn't remember you were such a sore loser."

"Who says I lost?" Mark asked. "I still got your hair wet."

Gordo didn't like the way his hair naturally dried, but Mark did and now he was going to get to see it again. The fact that Gordo's chest had gotten wet and was now glistening in the sunshine was a pleasant side effect. His tattoos were bright and shifting around beneath the wet sand stuck to his chest and Mark found himself distracted by them.

"My eyes are up here," Gordo pointed out.

Mark looked up at Gordo's face, but he didn't appear very bothered.

"I was just thinking about your tattoos," Mark told him.

"What about them?" Gordo asked as he propped himself up on his elbows. A few grains of sand fell from his shoulder onto the towel and Mark watched them for a moment before he met Gordo's eyes again.

"You're my mate," Mark pointed out.

"I know," Gordo agreed. It was clear from his tone and the way his brow furrowed just a little that he didn't understand why Mark was bringing that fact up out of nowhere as if it wasn't already obvious that they were. For a moment, Mark was overwhelmed by how nice it was to have the fact that they were mates something that was so easy to take for granted again. It still seemed surreal that they really were mates again and Mark could say it without Gordo getting mad or denying it.

"You have my wolf," Mark said as he rested his hand over Gordo's that was flat on the towel. "That marks you as my mate."

"I know," Gordo said again. "You explained that to me when you gave it to me. Both times."

"I want something that marks me as your mate," Mark told him. "I want people to see me and know I'm yours."

Mark watched Gordo's face closely, afraid that this was going to freak him out and they were going to backtrack again. Gordo was alright with the mate thing, but he'd made it pretty clear that he was not okay with the pack finding out about them again yet.

But if he really wasn't alright with the pack ever finding out, then why would he go on a poorly hidden vacation with him? Why would he have taken his wolf back? Why would he have gotten back together with him at all?

"You want a tattoo?" Gordo asked. When Mark didn't deny it, Gordo let out a laugh and said, "Please tell me you're not going to get my name inside a heart."

"Not your name in a heart," Mark said. He was aware that he was making it a little too obvious that he had already been thinking about this. He brushed some sand off of the raven on Gordo's chest that had been slowly shifting closer and closer to Mark as they talked. "I thought maybe a raven. Like yours."

Mark thought that maybe Gordo was going to say no but instead, he asked, “How much like mine?”

* * *

If Mark got a normal tattoo, his body would likely try to heal from it. But Mark wasn't getting just any ordinary tattoo.

Mark's chest was getting warm under Gordo's hands while he lay on the bed with his shirt off, watching Gordo work his magic. His chest was getting  _really warm,_  but he trusted Gordo and he trusted his magic so he didn't worry about that too much.

Mark could feel Gordo in his head and he could feel Gordo's magic flowing through him. Gordo was concentrating all of his energy into this marking and Mark could feel that it said that he was Gordo's mate and Gordo loved him and Gordo never wanted to leave him again. Mark could feel all of Gordo's love flowing through his veins and he felt so warm and tingly as Gordo stamped his love for him onto his body. He wasn't used to Gordo being this open about his love for him instead of holding back anymore. He had been used to this a long time ago, back before anything had gone wrong between them. He couldn't wait to grow used to it again.

The heat died down, but didn't disappear altogether, as Gordo moved his hands out of the way. He looked nervous, as if he was afraid that he hadn't  done it right or that Mark would not like how the tattoo turned out, but Gordo was an incredible witch and Gordo had marked him as his own. Mark did not think it would be possible for him to be disappointed.

When Mark looked down at the tattoo, his breath hitched. It was gorgeous and bright and it was _moving_ , spreading its wings to follow the trail of Gordo's fingers away from the raven. When Gordo leaned back to take a look at his handiwork and rested one hand on Mark's hip and the other on the bed, the raven's wings began to flutter to the same rhythm that Mark could hear Gordo's heart beating at. It was a perfect representation of Gordo and his magic, right over Mark's heart.

"If anyone comes after you, they'll know they have a witch to deal with," Gordo said.

If anyone came after him, they would have to deal with the whole pack and Mark knew that Gordo would do his best protect any of the pack from anyone who dared to go against them, but he didn't point that out. He liked that Gordo was a little extra protective of him.

Gordo's eyes flickered up to meet Mark's as he asked, "Do you like it?"

Mark tore his eyes from the tattoo to look up at Gordo again as he assured him, "I love it."

* * *

Mark didn't wake up until practically until noon the next day. Gordo slept in even later, but that gave Mark time to cook. He was just finishing up when Gordo walked into the kitchen wearing just his boxers, probably lured by the smell of the food.

"Good morning," Mark greeted him. "I made breakfast."

"Afternoon," Gordo corrected. Then he asked, "Is it fish? Did you sneak out to go hunting while I was asleep?"

"No," Mark said. "It's an omelette."

"Even better," Gordo told him with a lazy smile that made Mark's heart flutter.

Mark's chest got warm over his heart as Gordo moved closer to him to grab his plate. The tattoo had been doing that since he got it. It was on Mark, but it was still connected to Gordo and his magic. It got warmer and brighter the closer Gordo got to him and when Gordo touched him, the tattoo stretched towards his skin. Even when Gordo was not touching him, the tattoo was never still though. The raven's wings constantly flittered to the beat of Gordo's heart.

"I could go hunting later," Mark told him as they sat down at the kitchen table. "If you changed your mind about the fish."

"I didn't change my mind," Gordo said. "One round of you dropping dead animals at my feet was more than enough. You don't need to hunt for me unless we're trapped in the middle of nowhere with no other way to get food. Otherwise, you start ripping apart animals for me and I'm done kissing you."

"I thought you liked my courting," Mark said.

"I liked _you_ ," Gordo corrected. "I wasn't a huge fan of trying to explain to the guys why dead animals kept showing up right outside the door to the garage. Customers weren't a big fan of it either."

"You could have told me to stop," Mark pointed out.

"I didn't want you to stop courting me," Gordo said as he poked his omelette with his fork. "But if I'd known I could put in requests, I would have preferred it if you'd left omelettes at my door instead."

"That would have been harder to explain away," Mark pointed out.

"You're right. There's not a lot of other cooking wildlife in Green Creek," Gordo agreed.

* * *

 

That night, they were out on the beach, lying together in silence. They'd come out to watch the sunset, but they were comfortable there so they had stayed outside for longer, holding hands and staring up at the sky. The silence gave Mark a lot of time to think about Gordo and the past.

"I'm sorry," Mark said.

"For what?" Gordo asked.

Mark had already apologized to Gordo for leaving, but that wasn't what he was apologizing for this time. He tilted his head to look at Gordo instead of the stars. "I'm sorry you ended up stuck in the pack again."

"It's not your fault," Gordo pointed out. "I was born to be a part of this pack, just like you, and I didn't just come back to it because of Ox. My father helped Richard Collins escape and Richard came after your family. That made it my problem. I couldn't pretend I wasn't a part of this anymore."

Mark moved their intertwined hands onto his chest and told him, "I'm still sorry."

Gordo went silent again. Mark watched him for a moment longer, waiting to see if he was going to say anything else or not, but he didn't so Mark looked back up at the sky.

"I'm not stuck with the pack," Gordo said after a long pause. "I used to think about it like that, but I don't anymore. I didn't realize how much I missed being a part of a pack. I convinced myself that it was the same with Rico and Chris and Tanner, but it wasn't. There were too many secrets between us and things were different when it was just me and them. I'm glad they're my real pack now... I'm glad you're my pack too."

Mark squeezed Gordo's hand and shifted closer so that his side was pressed against Gordo's even more. Mark was pushing his weight against him, but Gordo didn't even react. He was used to Mark's need to be close enough to leave his scent on Gordo. Some things were like new between them again, but some things between them were just as familiar as they had been before.

"The moon's going to be full in a few nights," Gordo pointed out. "We can't stay much longer. You need to be with the rest of the pack."

"I know."

Mark was well aware that the full moon was coming soon.Mark had already known when the next full moon was scheduled and the evidence had been staring them in the face since the sun had set. A wolf could spend a full moon away from his pack, but it wasn't easy or pleasant. They both knew that they couldn't extend their stay.

"We still have tonight here though," Gordo said and Mark could feel Gordo shift beside him.

Mark looked away from the sky as Gordo dropped Mark's hand so he could set his hand in the sand for balance as he rolled over top of Mark.

Mark wasn't sure how things were going to be when they got back and the pack figured out that they were definitely back together. He wasn't sure how Gordo was going to act back in Green Creek after this. But he did know that Gordo was his mate and whatever happened wouldn't change that. He wasn't about to waste a night alone with his mate.

* * *

“I didn’t even wear these shoes to the beach,” Gordo complained the next morning. “How is there sand in them?”

Mark held back a laugh, but Gordo scowled at him as if he didn't. Their vacation coming to an end seemed to have put him in a bad mood.

“It’s not funny,” Gordo complained. “I’m going to be picking sand out of everything for months. The guys are going to find out I wasn’t on some business trip when I pull my phone out of my pocket and a pile of sand comes out with it.”

“Didn’t you say they already figured out that was a lie?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, but now they’re going to have evidence,” Gordo countered.

Mark thought that his new tattoo would be a lot greater evidence that they had snuck off together instead of on important and unrelated trips, but he didn’t mention it because he didn’t want to ruin the end of their trip. He liked green Gordo. He’d missed him and he wanted more of him.

“I doubt they’re going to search your pockets for sand,” Mark said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

Gordo didn’t look totally convinced that was true, but at least he didn’t argue.

Mark held out a hand to try to carry Gordo’s bag for him, but Gordo picked his bag up and grabbed Mark's hand instead.

“Should I find a way to waste a day so you can go back on your own first?” Mark asked. “Maybe I could go hunt you some fish.”

Gordo considered for a moment and then said, “No. I’ll just go back to my place and not let anyone know I’m back yet.”

That wasn’t exactly the answer Mark had been hoping for, but at least they were going back at the same time.

* * *

The pack was even less subtle about their beliefs that Mark and Gordo's excuses for being away for a few days had not been legitimate and that Mark and Gordo were 'totally banging again’. Mark really hoped that Carter hadn’t shared that particular theory with Gordo. He didn’t think Carter had, judging by the fact that Gordo hadn’t grumbled about it to him yet, but it was hard to tell when Gordo was already annoyed from all the little comments he was getting from the pack.

Mark felt a little bad that he hoped all the pack's assumptions about what was obviously true would be enough that Gordo would swallow his pride and admit that after years of holding a grudge, he had finally given in and they were both happier for it.

Gordo had mostly been avoiding the house since they had gotten back, but Sunday evening Gordo was there because family dinner was tradition and Elizabeth would not have let him skip the occasion quietly.  When Elizabeth decided that she wanted Gordo to help her make the salad instead of Ox and kicked him to the backyard, Mark got curious.  He wouldn’t say that he was _eavesdropping_ on them, but he did listen in to make sure that Gordo was alright and Elizabeth wasn’t overstepping any boundaries too much.

Mark could practically picture the look on Gordo’s face when Elizabeth, as casually as she would ask him to pass the salt, asked, “Did you and Mark have a nice time together on your vacation?”

Kelly and Joe were laughing at some joke Mark had barely registered, but the kitchen was completely silent. For a moment, Mark thought Gordo wasn't going to answer or was going to outright deny that he had any idea what Elizabeth was talking about.

Instead, after a long pause, Gordo responded, “It was nice.”

Mark smiled to himself and not even Carter’s knowing smirk was enough to bother him.

* * *

As far as Mark knew, Gordo had yet to confirm their relationship to anyone but Elizabeth when the full moon came around.

The pack was already in the clearing and Mark knew that it would only gather more attention if he hesitated instead of stripping with the rest of the wolves, so he decided to change quickly so that the pack wouldn’t have much time to take in his new tattoo. At least most of them would be wolves and not able to hold a conversation about Mark’s blatantly Gordo related tattoo.

Mark's clothes barely hit the ground before he shifted into a wolf, but his chest had still been bare long enough for the others to notice. Mark could already hear Rico cracking a joke as he shifted, but o nce he was a wolf it was hard to worry about who had seen his tattoo.

He wasn’t worried about what the humans were saying or how Gordo was responding. He just wanted to be close to Gordo. He wanted Gordo to smell like him. By the time Gordo had come to the house again after their vacation, Mark’s scent had already faded off of him. Now, he wanted to cover Gordo in his scent. He wanted all the other wolves to know that this was his mate.

Gordo was standing straight-faced and rigid, with his arms crossed over his chest, and there was a twinge of violet coming from him. Mark didn’t want his mate to be mad. He wanted him to be happy. So he jumped up with his paws on Gordo’s shoulders and rubbed his nose against Gordo’s cheek.

All Mark could think as he marked Gordo’s face with his scent was _matematematematematematematematemate_ and he hoped it would help reassure Gordo.

The humans were talking again, but Mark barely noticed. He was too busy nudging Gordo with his nose, trying to get him to look at him instead of at them. That didn't work, but he managed to get Gordo’s undivided attention when he ran his tongue over Gordo’s cheek.

Gordo pushed Mark away from his face, but Mark could feel the green rolling off of him. He knew his mate was happy to be near him so he jumped down anyway though and rubbed his sides against Gordo's legs as he walked around his feet in a protective circle.  Gordo said something and pointed out towards the clearing where the other wolves were already running and playing, but Mark sat down by his side anyway. He would play later. For now, he wanted to show his mate that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Gordo gestured towards the others a few more times but, eventually, he gave up and ran his fingers through the fur on the top of Mark’s head. A few minutes later, he sat down in the grass next to him with his knees up. Mark wrapped his body around Gordo and rested his head on Gordo's lap. The other wolves would be alright without him for a little while. They were all green together. He would run later, but for now he was going to stay here with his mate's fingers in his fur and his mate’s green mixing with his own.


End file.
